Introduction:

Plant-soil microbiome interactions in the rhizosphere are central to crop nutrition, soil health, and sustainable agriculture. In this webinar, we share shotgun metagenomic insights from rhizosphere soils collected beneath diverse wheat genotypes across UK farms under different land management.

Unlike amplicon approaches, shotgun metagenomics delivers comprehensive genomes for species-level taxonomy and functional characterization. You’ll see how different wheat genotypes and land management approaches shapes both community composition and metabolic potential—directly in real-world conditions.

What you’ll learn

• Species-level diversity patterns recruited by different wheat genotypes
• Microbia functional genes involved in nitrogen transformation and phosphorus mobilization in soil
• How wheat genotype microbial recruitment hold up across different farm environments
• Practical implications for breeding traits related to control of microbial functions to reduce fertilizer inputs and boost soil health